Milwaukee County

Jim Stingl | In My Opinion

This brewer's true blue office crew feels used

Geralyn Hackbarth (front) and other Miller Brewing employees picket Thursday at the brewery.

The hunk of hardware dangling from Jan Wilson's neck says it all.

It's a giant screw hanging from a necklace.

Wilson is the chief steward at Miller Brewing Co. for the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 35.

More than 120 members, nearly all women, do the jobs that, while vital to the operation, are hardly the highlights of the brewery tours. They pay bills, schedule production, handle mail, keep records and do countless other tasks.

The average age is over 50, and 25 years is a pretty typical length of service to the company, Local 35 business manager Judy Burnick said.

Union members last week overwhelmingly rejected a contract offer from Miller, which has been owned since 2002 by SABMiller, as in South African Breweries.

Their main complaint is that the company wants to freeze their pensions and instead put money in a retirement savings plan. The net loss for future retirees will be significant, they say. Health benefits are eroding, too.

But what bothers the women even more is that the mostly male unions in the breweries here and elsewhere are not being asked to accept a freeze, and their pensions are higher.

Bottom line for the union: It's unequal treatment based on gender. "SAB - this is not South Africa," said the protest sign carried by screw-wearing Wilson, an administrative assistant in quality services and a 30-year employee.

She and a few dozen other union members and sympathizers served up an ice-cold informational picket on Thursday, spilling out of the brewery onto Highland Blvd. during their lunch break.

"They (Miller) never thought this union would stand up," Wilson said. "When you mess with the bull, you get the horn."

They had one of those, too, a bullhorn that is, but their chants need some work. The members say this marching is new to them.

Local 35 is doing its best to shame the image-conscious company into reconsidering the pension change. They handed out leaflets outside Soldier Field to the many beer drinkers at last weekend's NFC championship game.

And they're planning to take advantage of the latest hot political tool, YouTube, by producing a video featuring "woman laws," a gender twist on the "man laws" ad campaign that Miller just announced it was halting, at least for now.

Julie Kubasa, a spokeswoman for Miller, said the company would not comment on any specifics of the negotiations.

"We remain hopeful that an agreement that is satisfactory to both parties will be reached," she said. "We value all our employees."

Perhaps, but you still have to keep an eye on what these huge profitable companies are cooking up for the regular folks who do the work.

And if these women who toil so faithfully and quietly start marching back and forth in front of Miller headquarters with signs like the one 36-year veteran Sandy Kapp was carrying, "Old ladies need pensions, too," they're not just crying in their beer.

Here's a woman law for you: It's a bad sign when the gals in the office start sporting screws around their necks.